What is Dreaming
by Tseecka Akeunah
Summary: Quatre is haunted by a girl from his dreams, as the walls between reality and dreaming begin to fall apart...complete 4xOC
1. Dreamer

Chapter 1- Dreamer  
  
Quatre woke up with tears in his eyes. That was the third time this week he'd dreamt about that girl. Why couldn't he get her out of his mind?  
  
He sat up and put his head in his hands. Always the same dream. Always the same...  
  
He would be standing on a beach, looking out at the sea. He' d hear a laugh, and turn to see her running along the beach, holding out her arms. He'd run to her and sweep he up in his arms, both laughing. Then they'd walk along the sand talking. All of a sudden she'd scream. A shot would ring out. The girl would jump like a lithe jungle-cat in front of him. Then she would collapse to the sand, blood pouring out of her chest. With her last remaining strength she would caress his cheek and whisper, "I love you." Always he would tell her that her death would not be in vain as she breathed her last breath. Then he would wake up sobbing. Always the same dream, never changing. Like a never-ending video, shown scene by scene. Flip. Flip. Laugh. Scream. Flip.  
  
He screamed out in anguish. Duo, sleeping in the next room, came running.  
  
"Dude, what's the matter?" he asked.  
  
"I.Just a bad dream, Duo. Go back to sleep."  
  
"Okay. You sure you okay?"  
  
"Yes Duo. Go to bed." Duo left the room leaving Quatre to his thoughts. The clock beside him read 4:05 am. "No point in going back to sleep," he thought aloud. "I really don't want to dream anymore. I may as well just get up."  
  
He went into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. Black. Just the way he liked it. He took his mug and went outside. The sun's rays were just beginning to touch the eastern horizon and the sky was a beautiful blend of pastel blues, yellows, and pinks. A blue jay sang the opening note of the morning rhapsody. Then the robins, the chickadees, the sparrows. He looked out at the ocean. The tops of the waves shone in the morning light, blinding him. A small boat bobbed in the waters, and a figure danced along the shore, dressed in a filmy white dress that blew in the light breeze. The wind carried the sound of her voice to him, singing;  
  
Cast your eyes to the ocean, Cast your soul to the sea When the dark night seems endless Please remember me  
  
Unconsciously, he put his hand to his cheek where-she-had kissed him in his dream. He looked at his watch. 6:30. Time to get dressed. He could hear Duo moving around. Poor guy. He and Hilde had gotten into yet another fight-lover's sprat, Wufei called them- and so Duo had gotten kicked out for the night. But Hilde would have forgiven him by now, and once again Quatre would be alone. He went inside, dressed, and then popped some Pop- Tarts into the toaster. He sat down at the table and pulled over the paper. No, no, no, yes. He opened up the comics and began to read.  
  
"Going back home," Duo called as he slammed the door. Quatre didn't even answer.  
  
"Quatre?" Duo came back and went into the kitchen. He sounded worried. Quatre's eyes were glazed over. Duo grabbed Quatre by the shoulders and shook him but Quatre didn't respond. As Duo watched, tears began to form in Quatre's eyes and drip down his eyelashes as he stared with unseeing eyes.  
  
"Wake up dreamer!" Duo called frantically. There was no response.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Well, what'd you think? I do realize that Quatre is a little OOC, as well as Duo (barely). It will actually remain like this for a while, I love to get reviews, of any sort; praise or flames, either one is fine, just so long as I know someone is reading my work. 


	2. Clawing

Chapter 2- Clawing  
  
Quatre looked around, sobbing. Blood stained his hands and face, and soaked the sand around the girl's body, which lay at his feet. Tears dripped down onto the wet sand as the waves lapped at his knees. His bangs hung down past his face as he mourned for the free spirit who had been shot down in flight. Another gunshot echoed and whizzed past his head, taking a chunk of ear with it. Slowly he got up to walk away. He noticed a black leather wallet lying in the sand and picked it up. An I.D. card stared up at him. Leah Kimaya.  
  
"Goodbye, Leah," he whispered gently before walking on. More bullets flew through the air and he began to run. As his feet pounded the sand, the world began to change and shimmer. Worlds, lands flashed before him as the continued to run until he hit a wall and fell to the ground.  
  
He took stock of his surroundings. He seemed to be in a deep pit, dark and smelling of sea salt. As he looked around, he concluded that when and wherever he was, it must be night. However, when he looked up into the sky, the bright noonday sun blinded him. No light entered his prison, making it seem as it the night was endless. He sat down with his back to the wall and closed his eyes.  
  
"Why is this happening?" he asked himself. "Usually.usually the dream ends with her death, but now it is continuing. Why?" Hours passed by, perhaps even days. Quatre lost all track of time. The scenes just kept repeating themselves in his head. Flip. Flip Laugh. Gunshot. Flip. All of a sudden, unbidden, the song the girl on the beach had been singing echoed into his mind.  
  
When the dark night seems endless  
  
Please remember me  
  
Images of Leah rose into his mind; her singing, dancing, laughing. He smiled as he remembered the way she laughed, a silent shaking of the shoulders, but always the warm, enlightening smile to go along with it.  
  
He looked down at his hands and found that they were glowing with a pure golden light. The strains of the melody the girl on the beach had sung echoed all about him as he stood and looked at his hands. They glowed with such a steady light that the depths of the pit were illuminated. His heart rose with hope that perhaps he would find a stairway or ladder, but when all of the sides of the cavern had been examined, he found no such thing. With a roar of frustration he pounded his glowing fists against the wall.and they sank right through! In wonderment, he placed the palm that wasn't holding the I.D. card in it against the rock and melted out a foothold. Slowly but surely, he climbed to the surface. His hands lost their glow, and the melody faded. He gazed out to the sea then looked down and screamed in heart-wracking agony. Leah's body lay at his feet; eyes closed peacefully, a slight smile upon her lips. He knelt to the sand and began to dig with his hands and fingernails. For what seemed like hours he dug through the wet sand, soaked with blood and water, until he had a hole big enough for a body. He took her hand and held it gently to his face, then kissed her cold forehead and laid her in the salty grave. He let the waves brush the sand back over and put the cross necklace he wore about his neck into the sand. Then he knelt by the grave, crying. Finally it seemed as if an angel had grabbed him and he vanished from the beach, leaving behind the sad grave, with only a small cross to mark Leah's final resting place. 


	3. No Reality Separated

Chapter 3- No Reality Separated  
  
Duo breathed a sigh of relief as Quatre's eyes fluttered. He removed his hands from Quatre's shoulders and wiped away the tears from the Arabian boy's face.  
  
"Duo? Is.is that you?" he whispered brokenly.  
  
"Yeah, it is. You okay?"  
  
I.I guess so. But my dream was so real." He wiped another tear from his eye with a clenched fist.  
  
"What's in your hand?" Duo asked curiously. Quatre opened his palm and stared down at Leah's face, smiling up at him from her I.D. card, which lay in his bloodstained palm.  
  
"Who's that?" Duo asked.  
  
"Her name's Leah. She's the one I keep dreaming about. She always, always dies, always sacrifices her life for but, but then I usually wake up. Today, the dream continued. I can't remember much, except I tried to stop the blood. Then I found her I.D. card, and ran. I guess I was hanging onto it the whole time. But why do I have it now? Why are the bloodstains still on my hands? Duo, I'm scared."  
  
Duo stared in disbelief. Quatre, who was once so strong, so peaceful, seemed to have lost control, sobbing his eyes out. "Quatre, get a hold of yourself. We'll figure out what's going on. Don't worry."  
  
"But how can I not worry. Duo, the borders between my dreams and reality are falling apart. Reality is no longer separated from imagination. Everything is falling apart. People are needlessly dying.sacrificing themselves for people they love.dying in vain." he said quietly. "And I can't do anything about it, not in dreaming, not in living."  
  
"Yeah, well, whatever. Lissen, I gotta go. Hilde's waiting for me. Don't go insane now, k?"  
  
"Sure." Duo left, and Quatre went to sit outside. He walked down to the beach and lay down in the sand, letting the waves wash through his hair. A laugh broke through his thoughts. He got up and looked to see who was laughing, and barely bit back a scream.  
  
Leah was there, running towards him. "Quatre, come to me. Come back!" she laughed.  
  
"No.no." Quatre yelled. "Don't come near me. You'll die, Leah, you will, I know. I won't be able to save you. You'll die needlessly, sacrificing yourself, for nothing. I couldn't do a thing about it in dreaming, nor in living."  
  
"Quatre," she said softly. "I saved you in your dream. I sacrificed my life so that you could continue to live, so if you continue to live I will have not died in vain." She took a bloodstained rose from her breast pocket and clasped Quatre's hand around it.  
  
"What are you?" Quatre asked.  
  
"A dream." She disappeared, leaving Quatre standing there.  
  
Quatre woke up. The dream was over, and peace was in his soul. But in his hand he held a single red rose, stained with blood.  
  
"What is reality? What is dream?" he asked himself quietly before heading back up to the house, leaving his sandals lying in the sand. 


	4. Dreamer's gift

Chapter 4- Dreamer's Gift  
  
He opened the door and sat down at the kitchen table. The newspaper lay spread out before him. He absentmindedly flipped through it, looking at the headlines, when a picture caught his eye. He gasped.  
  
Wufei, bound hand and foot, was being led through the streets of what looked like New York with 20 armed men guarding him. He read through the article quickly.  
  
"Damn them! Damn those friggin rebels!" he thought savagely. Though most people had embraced the idea of total pacifism and the World Nation, there were some who resisted. They preferred the world as it used to be, with war and power. The Gundam Pilots, who had become the World Nation's ambassadors for peace, were considered their worst enemies. And now, they had captured one, and his Gundam, Nataku. Who knew what they'd do with that power!  
  
Quatre pounded his fist on the table in frustration. If only Sandrock still remained with him! But quatre had been scared of it's pwer, scared that he might once again go crazy and try to destroy his friends, so he had left his Gundam in the hand o Lucrezia Noin until it was needed. He was powerless to do anything.  
  
The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He answered to hear the voice of Relena Peacecraft.  
  
"Quatre, are you feeling up to doing a mission for me today? Duo told me about your dream experience, but this isn't very intense. I think you can handle it."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I have a young girl here who wishes to become a Gundam Pilot. She already has a Gundam of her own, Desertblade."  
  
How was that possible? The Gundam Pilots' Gundams, and the Mercurius, Epyon, and Vayeate, were the only Gundams ever made! He'd puzzle that out later.  
  
"Quatre?"  
  
"Oh, uh, sure. When?"  
  
"You'll start her training in an hour."  
  
"Okay. Relena?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"Leah Kimaya." Click. The phone went dead. Quatre just stood there, the dead receiver in his hand. The beeping stove jolted him out of his stupor.  
  
"Shoot!" he sighed in frustration as he pulled the burnt apple pie out of the oven. "Oh well. Maybe I can give it to Duo. My pies always suck, anyway. Not like this one would have been any better." He chucked the steaming pie in the garbage can as he grabbed his coat and left, locking the door behind him.  
  
He waited outside of the training base for Relena and Leah to arrive. Soon he saw Relena's car drive up and two girls got out. Leah briskly walked over and extended her hand.  
  
"Leah Kimaya, Chameleon Pilot." At his puzzled look, she explained. "The Chameleon is a program I've designed for certain Gundams. It enables them to completely blend into their surroundings by transforming shape and color. My Gundam, Desertblade, is the first compatible mobile suit for this program."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"By the way, are these yours? You left them on a beach." She held out his sandals. 


	5. Dream Catcher

Chapter 5- Dreamer's Gift  
  
"Well, are they?" she asked again.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Thanks. Well, uh, let's get you started. Um, I'll just acquaint you with the controls, for starters, okay?"  
  
"I already know the controls, for both the Chameleons, and the original Gundams. If anyone needs to be acquainted with any controls, it's you," she retorted coldly.  
  
"Oh yeah. Right. Well, how about you show me your weapons systems?"  
  
"Gladly." She brightened and led him out of the hall towards the back.  
  
"Um, Leah? The target grounds are that way," Quatre called out.  
  
"I need larger grounds. My weapons have a longer range than your Gundam's even the Customs. Miss Relena had these ones built for me especially."  
  
"So.who designed Desertblade?"  
  
"I did. Weapons systems, defense, general design. I also designed the metal, Gundameleon Alloy, to be used only for future Chameleons. I built the entire thing by myself. I'm not used to working with others." Quatre got the point and shut up until he saw the MS.  
  
"Holy.Shinigami kill me now!" he shouted. "That thing is huge!"  
  
"We're still about a mile or two away from the target grounds. Where we are now at the moment is where the targets are." She gestured at five or six round targets that stood at least eighty meters high. "Desertblade has a long-range sensor built into her visual screen to focus in on targets at a maximum range of fifty kilometers. The weapons she has are also made to reach that far."  
  
"Wow," was all Quatre could say.  
  
Finally they reached the actual suit. With one agile leap she jumped into the cockpit. The door closed and Desertblade's upper body swiveled a full 360 degrees before the entire suit moved to face the far-off target.  
  
"This is the Chameleon's Tongue," she called over the suit's com-line. "It is the only mandatory weapon for all the future Chameleons." A long whip of crackling pink electricity and lasers extended. As Quatre looked off into the distance he saw a burst of purple and black flames. When the tongue retracted, there was no longer a target left standing.  
  
"That target was made of Gundanium Alloy, y'know," she told him. He could sense immense pride in her voice.  
  
"Continue. I am eager to see more of these weapons of yours." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the grounds. The suit's hands reached up and clasped, and a twirling ball of green and yellow fire appeared. With a war cry, it was fired at another of the standing targets, but as Quatre watched, it evaporated before it got there.  
  
"Leah, it didn't-"  
  
"Shush, and watch."  
  
Out of the blue, a green and yellow dragon swooped down. It sliced at the target, and then disappeared. The target dissolved instantly.  
  
"What the heck was that?!" Quatre yelled.  
  
"My Chameleon, Desertblade, uses a combination of laser technology and magic."  
  
"You're a witch!?" He asked incredulously.  
  
"Well, I prefer the term Wicca, but yeah," she answered.  
  
"Well, if you don't mind me saying, you've cast a spell over me,' he said seductively.  
  
"Let's.just continue, okay?" she said nervously. Quatre just shook his head. He didn't have a clue as to what the feeling was inside of him that made his heart flutter so. He had told himself that he wouldn't fall in love with her, that they were just master and apprentice, student and teacher, but she was twisting that, twisting his heart into a shape he didn't want to recognize. He didn't realize she was speaking until her words broke through his thoughts.  
  
".by inputting different codes. Each Chameleon Gundam has, for instance, a specific automobile it will transform to by using the code 1CD7X13. When I input this code into Desertblade, she transforms into a silver Jaguar convertible. The Chameleon suits are also built to the preferences of the pilots. For instance, my friend Umi will be getting a black suit named Tiamat that becomes a black Ford F-150. She asked for these features specifically and they will included in the final product."  
  
Quatre tuned out what she was saying. He just watched her, the way she looked, the way she moved. Her short brown hair, hanging just over the tops of her ears. Her soft, multi-colored eyes, mixed with blue, brown, and green. her lashes, long and soft, that brushed against the glasses she wore. She was taller than him by at least a head, with long, strong legs and thin lithe arms. She moved quickly and smoothly, like a panther, a tiger, yet she almost seemed to dance. Every step was light, sure-footed. As she climbed to the top of her suit to fix something or other, she was graceful and completely at east with the height, her feet finding ridges of metal that weren't there when he first looked. She was an angel, a magical being made of light. As she looked down at him and he smiled, her eyelids slowly lowered shyly over her beautiful eyes. She was his dream, and he would do whatever he could to catch her and make her his. 


	6. Angel's Tears

Chapter 6- Angel Tears  
  
It wasn't until that evening, eating dinner with Relena and Leah, that Quatre noticed how sad she always looked. Her eyes seemed on the verge of tears and she almost never smiled. She seemed so different from his dreams, so reserved and serious. She wasn't at ease here, he could tell. In her Suit, or on the beach, she was herself, but here.  
  
"Quatre, Relena, I hope you don't mind if I excuse myself. I'm feeling a bit tired."  
  
"Go ahead, Leah. You've had a rough day," Relena said kindly.  
  
As Leah turned to go out the door, Quatre called out her name.  
  
"Leah." he said.  
  
"Yes, Quatre?" she asked curiously.  
  
"I.Dream well," he said. She smiled faintly and left the room. He and Relena finished their dinner in silence.  
  
In his room after excusing himself from the table, quatre sat at his desk and began to write a letter.  
  
"I hate to do this, sell her and her secrets to the rebels, but it's the only way to get Wufei back," he told himself as he finished the letter with a swirl, folded it, and sealed it with a wax seal.  
  
A quiet, muffled sob echoed down the hall. Worried, Quatre walked towards Leah's room. Yes, the sobs were coming from in there. He knocked gently, and then went in.  
  
Leah sat on the floor, head in her hands. She raised her tear-stained face, glistening, to him as he knelt by her side. He smiled gently and wiped the tears from her eyes.  
  
"What is the matter?" he asked.  
  
"A.a dream. It was so horrible. There was you and me, and we were talking, on the beach, and then I heard a gunshot. I tried to scream, yell, do anything, but I.I couldn't. you got hit Quatre, and you died. There was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't even move, until you were lying on the sand. Then I ran to your side, and tried to stop the bleeding, but I couldn't. Then you told me that.that you loved me. But see, I knew what was going to happen. I've had this dream before." Quatre stared at her in disbelief. her dream was so similar to his own-the beach, the shot. In both of their dreams they had tried to save the other, both failing. "Quatre?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I need to ask you something. you don't have to answer, but I just need to get it out there. Do.in your dream, you said you loved me. Do you?"  
  
"Listen, I'm tired. Can you go back to sleep?"  
  
"Y-yes. I think so."  
  
"Okay then. I'm just down the hall if you need me, alright?"  
  
"okay." he left the room quietly and returned to his study. Picking up the letter he had written, he decided. His heart made up the decision for him. The letter flew into flames as he tossed it into the fireplace. He couldn't betray her now, couldn't sell her secrets to the rebels, not even to get his fellow pilots back. Not like this, when she was so weak.  
  
"And I never will," he said savagely. "I will not betray her."  
  
He went to the window and looked out on the moonlit landscape. Rain softly pattered the rofftop and splashed into the creek below. The water ran through the gutters, the tinny metal magnifying its passage.  
  
Somewhere in the darkness, a wolf howled, calling, but there was no answering howl. The eerie silence ecoed in Quatre's ears, and he hung his head. Alone. He knew that feeling only too well. Everyone he had ever loved was gone, except Relena, and now.now there was Leah.  
  
He closed the window and leaned back against the wall. A story he had once been told by Trowa reverberated in his mind.  
  
"Every raindrop that falls, is that of an angel, crying for humanity." The rain.not water, but tears, angel's tears- Leah's tears. 


	7. Forever Dreaming

Chapter 7- Forever Dreaming  
  
A shrill scream awoke Quatre from a fitful sleep, haunted by blood and death. He hurried out of his room and yelled out Leah's name. Relena answered him  
  
"Quatre! Oh, god.I'm in Leah's room! Hurry!" He ran to the room where Relena sat by Leah's bed.  
  
"What's the matter?" he asked.  
  
"She's slipped into a coma, Quatre. I don't know why. Oh, god, I can't wake her!" she sobbed. Quatre reached out to the mournful queen, but she just ran out, leaving Quatre with the still body of Leah, the only girl he had ever truly loved.  
  
"Stop thinking like that Quatre," he scolded himself. "She's only in a coma, not dead." But tears won out over strength and he collapsed.  
  
"Leah.you were once so full of life.now you're cold.no words escape your lips.Please, Leah.I want to hear your voice, speak to me." He picked up her hand and held it, as if the warmth of his skin would somehow warm her entire body and she would wake, wake from the endless dream she was trapped within, like he had been, except she might never wake.  
  
He was awoken by a hand upon his shoulder trying to give him comfort. The sheet around his head was soaked with salty tears. He looked up to see Heero standing there with a strange look in his eyes. Quatre couldn't put a name to it until a tear rolled softly down the Perfect Soldier's cheek. It was sadness, and.compassion?  
  
"How.how is she?" he asked, voice husky. "I cam as soon as I heard."  
  
"I don't know. I've been asleep."  
  
"You've been sleeping for over three days, Relena tells me."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"It's her. Leah. She has this mystic healing power. You have slept the sleep of healing. She was a Wicca, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know."  
  
"She's kept me safe all these years. All my life. Kept me alive, through anything war could throw at me. Bullets, anoxia, explosions.but nothing she could have done could have prepared me for this. I've known pain before, Quatre, physical pain, but never this pain of the heart."  
  
"How."  
  
"She was my cousin." Quatre started, then realized that that was the reason Heero was so saddened.  
  
"She saved me, too," he said after a while. "In a dream. But she died. In vain, I thought. The rebels were after me. I could've died, but she saved me. But I can't save her.I can't wake her up. Why can't I wake her up? Why, Heero? Why won't she wake?" he ranted dully.  
  
"You.you love her, don't you?" Heero asked gently, in a tone quatre had never heard him use before.  
  
"I don't know.yes, yes I do. I just want her to wake up, but she won't wake. She won't wake and I can't save her. She's been sent to a living hell, like I was, but Duo woke me. I can't wake her though...I can't.I'm powerless."  
  
"You'll be good for her, Quatre," Heero said quietly.  
  
"How? How can I be good for her if I can't wake her? I can't, I can't wake her up, can't do anything. She will die in vain, if she doesn't wake. I can't wake her up!"  
  
"Quatre, it's okay. Calm down."  
  
"No, I can't. Do you know what happened when I wipe out of reality? I woke up with blood all over my hands and I had her I.D. card in my hand. Heero, dreams and reality are no longer separated for your cousin and I. If she is killed in her dream, she may well die in the physical world. We need to wake her!"  
  
He collapsed to the floor, grasping Leah's hand, sobbing. Heero tentatively put a hand on Quatre's shoulder, then knelt and wrapped his arms around the Arabian boy, rocking him as a mother rocks her saddened child.  
  
"It will be all right, Quatre. We'll figure something out, don't worry. We'll get her back. I promise, Quatre. I promise." Quatre's sobs subsided but his shoulders still shook with every shaky breath he drew. Finally Quatre pulled away. Heero wiped the tears from Quatre's face and hugged him before getting to his feet. Quatre bent over Leah and kissed her gently and softly before walking silently out of the room. Hero knelt at the bedside and folded his hands, putting them to his face as if he was praying. He, too, kissed Leah's cold forehead and then left, shutting the door. 


	8. Where Have you Gone?

Chapter 8- Where have you gone?  
  
The salty air stung Quatre's cheek as he walked along the familiar beach. Waves lapped at his bare feet and the gulls cried as they circled in the air, riding freely on the thermals, and others banged clams against the hard rocks. As he peered out at the wide ocean, he could see a small craft bobbing on the gentle waves. A figure waved at him, and he waved back, then the boat sailed over the horizon and disappeared. He felt a pull on his arm, and turned quickly, but there was no one there. He rotated 360' but there was no sign of anyone. His arm was yanked again, nearly being pulled out of its socket and he stumbled and fell- just as a bullet whizzed right over his head. He jumped to his feet and stared in the direction from which the shot had come, but there was no one and no place for an assassin to hide. He knew, instinctively, that once again the dreams and reality were being squashed together, overlapping, and that meant something was going on in the dream world. He and Leah were in danger in her nightmare, and so was he in this world! He ran up to the Dorlian mansion and into Leah's room, panting. "Heero.she's in danger.assassins.we need to wake her now! Heero? What's wrong?" Tears were streaming from Heero's eyes as he knelt head bent over Leah's sleeping form. Heero moved aside to reveal a gunshot wound in Leah's chest. "She must have been shot, Quatre. She's still breathing, but barely, and I can't even get close to it. There's a wall around the wound and I can't get though it." "Because she was shot in the dream world," Quatre said pensively. "We need to either wake her.or go into the dream world and find her." "Quatre, you must go! You have to save her! Please.I can't live without her." "Not can I, but I can't, Heero. She's on a deeper level of dreaming that I can achieve by falling asl-" he collapsed to the ground in mid- sentence, eyes glazing over. "Quatre? Quatre! He's gone." "There'll be nothing to do but wait. It takes a while for him to prepare to wake up. There is something he has to do, and he won't wake until it is done." Heero turned to see Duo standing in the doorway. "Didn't you want him to go find her?" "Yes and no. I wanted him to find Leah for me, but I didn't want him to go right away. It wasn't safe for him to go." Hearing the cries and low voices of those in great heart's pain, Relena came running into Leah's room. A small cry escaped her lips as she saw Leah's bloodstained blouse and the hands and face of Heero, also stained with blood, and the prone figure of Quatre on the floor. "Heero.Heero, what happened?" Heero looked up with far-off, dead eyes, that didn't seem to take in anything around him. "Leah was shot in the dreaming world, and Quatre went after her to try to save her," he answered, his voice filled with the strain of holding back the river of tears he knew would fall if he wasn't strong. He couldn't let her worry; she was already tense enough, and didn't need the extra stress. But Relena could see the pain in his eyes and so she knelt beside him and cradled him in her arms. With the gentleness of her touch, the dam burst and soon Relena's dress was soaked with both her tears and Heero's. Silently, Duo left the room and walked down the long hall to his own quarters where he proceeded to bang his fist against the wall, leaving several small dents. His knuckles cracked and bled furiously, and still he pounded out all of his frustrations, ignoring the pain. Then two strong arms encircled him from behind and turned him around to look at his face. "Shush, Duo. It will be all right." Trowa stood before him and wiped the tears from the braided boy's face. "They'll be back. They'll be fine." Duo buried his face in the taller boy's chest and sobbed, as his hands clutched the fabric of the white shirt leaving red stains where the blood had run. All through the residence, people knelt and held each other tightly, sending out their thoughts and what little strength they had to the couple who were trapped in a nightmare with no way to wake. 


	9. And I Shall Help Thee Heal

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"Leah!" Quatre cried out as his eyes opened and he looked at his surroundings, at the beach he had seen so many times before. But this time, the tangy salt air was punctuated with a bitter, acrid smell. He recognized it; having been a soldier, he had sensed it enough times. It was the smell of blood. "LEAH!" He screamed and ran forward, his feet finding next to no purchase in the sand, yet still, continuously running. A dark shape, lying in the wet sand, grew steadily larger as he sprinted his worry and his love sprouting wings from his ankles. He fell to his knees next to the still figure. Blood had once spurted out of a wound in her chest, and now a dark mass of congealing blood had formed around the open flesh. Wasting no time, Quatre began to work, washing away the blood. He pulled out a pair of tweezers and dipped them into the wound, feeling around for the hard lump he knew would be there. He found it, and drew it out, then sewed the injury shut. His mind was working furiously, not letting any stray thoughts in, but his subconscious was a mess of thoughts and fears. There was one thought that kept resurfacing, no matter how much he tried to bury it deep within him; this is too much like the dream. This is too similar to the dream. He kept replaying the scenes in his mind, those scenes that had become so familiar to him. Somehow, deep within him, he knew she was going to die. But then his heart stopped a beat as her eyelids fluttered -oh, how beautiful her lashes were! - and she fought to open her eyes. With a great effort, she had forced them open, and lay on the beach looking up at him. "Quatre?" she whispered, then winced, as if it hurt to speak. "Ssh, love, sh, it will all be all right," he told her, his voice breaking. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving." "No, Quatre! No!" she yelled out, suddenly animated. Quatre drew back, afraid at the wild look in her eyes. "You MUST go back! You cannot stay here! They have found a way.to get to you.through dreaming.I was their bait, go back, Quatre.If ever you loved me, you MUST go back!" Her words were slurred, her voice drunken. Her fingers clutched his wrist, her nails digging into his flesh. "Go back!" she told him again. "I'm not leaving without you," he said fiercely, a wild heat burning in his chest. Was it his love? Was it pain? "You.must.go." she whispered again, an animal-like look in her eyes. "You can't stay, they will kill you." "Sh, love, this is only a dream, they can't hurt us here." "Oh, but they can! They can, and they will, Quatre. They will kill you. Don't you.don't you." Her chest heaved and she lay on her back gasping for air. Her short, ragged breaths escaped through her mouth, the pungent smell of death evident. Quatre was once again reminded of his dream, and of how close she lay to dying here, now, at his knees. As if she had read his mind, she whispered, "When I am gone.put this.at the head.of my.grave." She reached up and patted the cross that hung at his throat, then her hand sank down to the sand once again, the effort of holding it up too much for her weak and injured body. "You won't die!" Quatre screamed. "You won't, you mustn't!" In frenzy, he jumped to his feet and began wailing in anguish, his head tilted back to the sky. Before he could realize what he was doing, he dived on top of her, his hands placed firmly against her wound and her heart, his teeth clenched. A white light shone from his hands and began pulsating, entering her body. The wound disappeared, her breaths slowed and became less ragged, and her eyes lost the madness. With a gasp, Quatre sank to the sand, dimly aware that he was laying atop of his love, that their bodies were so close.so very, very close.he could smell her, feel her, if he had stuck his tongue out he would have been able to taste her.Allah above, he wanted her so badly.but he was too tired, all the energy was gone from his body, and all he could think of was sleep, restful dreaming. His eyes closed and he sank into a deep sleep, his breathing matching that of the girl lying beneath him, both of them unconscious in the sand. 


	10. Forsaken Angels

Chapter 10- Forsaken Angels  
  
The sun was setting in the west, where the blue of the sky met the blue of the sea and stained the world red. Waves gently lapped at the shore where two young people lay, sleeping. The sand around them was red, a red not generated by the setting sun, but the red of spilt blood. After a while, one of the two sat up and wiped at his eyes. His hair was blond and his eyes reflected the color of the ocean. He looked down at the young girl lying beside him.  
  
"Now what on earth are we supposed to do?" he asked himself miserably. "We are stuck in dreaming with.with no way out." He jumped as he heard the voice from the girl next to him.  
  
"What.what happened?" she asked him, confused.  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
She looked down at herself, gingerly touching the place where the bullet had entered her body. "Quatre, what did you do? I was dying, I knew it. I could feel my connections to the world disintegrating, I could feel my life slipping away.there was no possible way you or anyone could have saved me. The only one with the power to bring me back is God." Quatre looked at her with a hurt expression and she laughed. "No, Quatre, I'm sorry. You are a lot of things, but you aren't God." He kept staring, then slowly broke into a huge grin and laughed as well. Then, abruptly, he stopped.  
  
"I.I didn't know what was happening. All I knew was that I couldn't let you die. I just.my hands, they started to glow, and there was this weird white light coming from them, almost.ethereal. Then I put them on the wound and it was like there was all this power going from me into you, into the wound. I could feel your heart beat.I could see your heart beating, I could see everything and the light was just moving through you and healing you. Then I collapsed and I felt like all this power had just been drained from me, like I had been sapped of all energy." He looked at her. "This isn't making any sense, is it?"  
  
Leah gave him a sort of half smile and shook her head. "No, Quatre, not.not really."  
  
He shrugged and looked away. "Maybe the divine power of God came down and chose me as a vessel for His healing powers. Maybe it was Him and He chose to heal you." Almost to himself he added, "Because He wouldn't forsake one of His angels."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"N-nothing. Don't mind me, I'm just muttering aimless nonsense."  
  
"You said something about angels. I distinctly heard the word angels in that sentence."  
  
"You couldn't have, I said no such thing."  
  
"Right." She grinned a knowing smile and turned away, rising to her feet. "We need to figure out a way to get out of this place." Quatre stood up as well and took her hand. She looked at him in surprise. "Quatre?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I just realized.you never answered me that night."  
  
"Which night?"  
  
She looked him straight in the eye. "The night you came into my room after I had had that dream. I said that in my dream you had said you loved me, then I asked you if you really did. You never answered me."  
  
"You must be confused, Leah, I don't remember you ever saying that."  
  
"No, no, I did, I'm sure of it. And you never replied. You just changed the subject and left."  
  
"I don't remember that conversation." He looked away.  
  
"Well then, I'll just ask you now. In my dream, you said you loved me. Do you?" Quatre looked at her.  
  
"Regardless of what I say here, it will still be me saying it in a dream. Once we escape.then I'll tell you." She looked at him confused.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
"You're asking me about something I said in a dream you once had! But look around you, Leah! We're still in a dream. So no matter what I say here, it won't matter, because it's still one of your dreams and it still will have no meaning in the real world!" Leah looked at him in astonishment.  
  
"I'm sorry Quatre. I didn't realize you felt that way." She looked off at the horizon. "But let's face it. Our dreams are now not separated from our reality. There is a very good chance we will be stuck in this place for the rest of our lives, or even killed. You saw what that bullet did to my body back in reality. This is our reality now, Quatre. So if you have anything you want to say to me in the real world, say it now, because we're not likely getting back to where everyone else is." She looked back at him. "It's time to face up to our situation, Quatre. Time to act like grown- ups." She began to walk away, but was quickly jerked back and spun around by Quatre grabbing her hand as she left.  
  
"Time to act like grown-ups?" he asked. "In that case." 


	11. Kiss in the Dark

Chapter 11  
  
The sky was dark now and moon was hidden behind clouds, not able to light the beach. Leah could hear him breathing in the dark, his breath was so close to her face. She closed her eyes, loving the sensation of having him so close to her.  
  
"If it's time to act like grown-ups, then I guess I can't put this off any longer," he whispered into her ear. Leah started at how close he was to her. Then suddenly his lips were on hers and his hands were running up and down her back, caressing her. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him into her, not wanting to ever break the kiss. But finally Quatre pulled away.  
  
"Quatre." she whispered into the dark.  
  
"Does that answer your question, Miss Kimaya?"  
  
"Y-yes."  
  
"You don't sound convinced." Then suddenly his hands were on her again and his mouth was trailing kisses up and down her face and neck, his mouth hungry but gentle. She kissed back, fiercely. They stood like that for what seemed an eternity, then quatre broke the kiss. "Well? Is that a suitable answer?"  
  
"Yes. Yes it is!" There was only determination in her voice as she leaned forward to capture his mouth once again with hers. 


	12. Angel Morning

Chapter 12- Angel Morning  
  
Quatre opened his eyes to the mid-morning sun, shining high above his head with a cheery radiance, clad in nothing but the skin he was born in. A sleeping form was curled against his body, a head resting on his chest, an arm draped across him in a gentle embrace. He brought his hand up to caress the silken hair, to push it back from the beautiful face. Her eyes fluttered, and he held his breath, not wanting to wake her. She seemed on the verge of opening them, but simply uttered a high-pitched sigh that brought a smile to his lips and snuggled deeper into his chest, eyelids becoming still.  
  
He continued stroking her hair as he lay on his back in the dry, white sand. The feel of her, of her skin, her hair, and the sounds of the gently roaring ocean soothed him, and for a moment, he felt almost as though he could forget everything. All the horrors. All the danger the two of them were in. Lying there on the beach, he felt as though he could simply focus on love, on his emotion, his feeling, without worry. But there was a cold threat lurking in the back of his mind, the danger that threatened them, there on that lovers' paradise.  
  
Leah sighed again, and rolled over, facing away from him. Her arms curled beneath her head to make a pillow for herself, and she snuggled her nose into the crook of her elbow like a little dog. Quatre had to stifle a laugh, reminding himself not to wake her. He rose, and reached for the clothes he had cast off last night, pulling them on. His bare toes curled against the warm sand, and the gentle heat of the sun beat down on him, made bearable by the misty breeze, wafting coolly from the ocean. A lone seagull called once, then wheeled out of sight. Quatre smiled, and made his way to the rocks that stood at one end of the beach.  
  
He climbed the giant blocks of granite until he reached the point he had seen from his prone position on the beach. A shelf of rock reached out towards distant shores across the sea. Soft sea-grass waved in the wind, and moss formed a soft carpet. He sat down, cross-legged, and looked out at his surroundings.  
  
"It really is a beautiful place," he said aloud, no longer needing to worry about waking his love. "If only we could be here, without the imminent danger waiting for us at every turn. If we could just be here by ourselves, for a time that was special to us." Absentmindedly, he pulled a ring from his pocket and began fingering it, rolling it round and round, catching the sun and refracting it into dozens of miniscule rainbows, before finishing his thought. ".like a honeymoon."  
  
He gazed out over the horizon, bathing in the un-tamed glory of the beach, scanning the beauty all around him. Below him, he could see Leah yawn, stretch, and open her eyes. She pulled on her glasses and read the message in the sand that he had left for her, then shaded her eyes with one hand and looked up towards the rocks. Quatre slipped the ring back into his pocket and waved, standing up to begin his descent down the rocks. 


	13. Wedded to Calamity

Chapter 13- Wedded to Calamity  
  
As he neared her, Quatre could see the look of disapproval on Leah's face.  
  
"You went up to the rocks, and you didn't wake me?!" she exclaimed in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. Quatre was shocked at this sudden outburst of anger, until he caught the glitter in her eyes that meant she was joking, and the slow, deliberate blink of her eyes that she did so inconspicuously.  
  
"You were sleeping so peacefully- I didn't want to wake you," he explained, feeling slightly guilty at the fact that he had never even thought she might want to come too. All the anger, fake though it was, melted off her face.  
  
"Oh," she said softly, before grinning and jumping into his arms. "God, Quatre, I love you so much!" she looked at him, her eyes full of love and adoration.  
  
"I love you too," he said softly, his voice gentle and musical. Leah looked at him in surprise.  
  
"You've never said it that way before," she said, in a voice much the same as his. Though she held his gaze, he caught a slight movement in his peripheral vision- a small rubbing of the finger, a light caress of the bottom joint, a rolling of the fingertips of the other hand around the fourth finger. He was hit by a jolt of surprise and happiness, knowing in his heart what that gesture meant. In that instant, his mind jumped to his conclusion, the answer to the dilemma that had been pounding at his head all morning, and for some of the night until he had lost his head in the passion. He backed away from her, pulling his hands out of her grasp, and sank to the sand on one knee. He bent over, not wanting her to see what he was doing. She cried out in alarm as, his face hidden, he smiled. She didn't suspect anything. Good.  
  
"Oh God! Quatre, what's the matter? Are you injured, wounded? did something happen up on the rocks? Oh please, Quatre, say something!!" The distress in her voice made him look up, a huge grin on his face.  
  
"Leah Kimaya. From the first moment I saw you, I knew I was looking at an angel. My angel. My guardian angel. And from the first moment I talked to you, I knew I was helplessly and hopelessly in love with that angel." He paused to collect his thoughts. Leah was utterly and completely silent. "I didn't want to ask this in the dream world, where we are in so much danger. But.I don't know if we'll ever get out. I don't know if we'll ever wake. Our dreams.they may or may not tell what will happen. But if they do, I would never forgive myself for not asking you while we were both still alive, well, and happy. Will you marry me?"  
  
Leah stared at him, speechless. He looked at her hopefully, holding up the ring he had bought.ages ago, it seemed. A single tear dripped down her cheek, and he worried. 'did I upset her? did I say something wrong? did I-' his thoughts were cut short by her teary reply.  
  
"Took you long enough!" she cried out, her voice full of joy, happiness, and love. She held out her hand and Quatre slid the ring on her fourth finger as he rose from the sand. He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed the fingertips. "No, silly," she reprimanded playfully. "You're supposed to kiss these." She playfully puckered up her lips like a fish and came at him. He backed away in mock horror, pretending to scan the horizon for a way out, when true horror came into his face. Leah stopped her playacting instantly, looking at him with worry.  
  
"What? What is it?" she asked.  
  
He screamed in his head, 'No! Not now! Not when we're so happy!' The anger and frustration welled tears up inside of him and they spilled out from his eyes. He clenched his eyes shut angrily, trying to block them, trying to block what he'd just seen, trying to block the weakness, but when he opened his eyes again, the scenery still swam through tears. he shook his head, clearing his vision, and took her hand.  
  
"We have to run," he explained through gritted teeth. "Now."  
  
"W-why?" Leah asked in surprise, obviously not wanting the moment to end.  
  
"They're back," Quatre replied angrily, his eyes not leaving the dark shapes crouched in the bushes and behind the trees, their guns evident at their belts and in their hands. Then he took off, his feet frantically pounding the sand, his hand clenched tight around Leah's. He could hear her running as well, and he let go of her hand as she came up beside him, obviously not needing any help to run. they reached the rocks and scrambled over them, trying to reach the other side, trying to reach safety. As they cleared the first set, five shots rang out in quick succession. Leah looked at Quatre, her eyes sombre.  
  
"Quatre.we're going to die." Tears welled up in her eyes. quatre stopped running to turn and look at his wife. He took up her hands and held them, trying to soothe her, trying to calm her. His attention was completely on her.  
  
A single assassin rose from the rocks before them, while their backs were turned, and aimed. 


	14. Guardian Angel

Chapter 14- Guardian Angel  
  
They had run. They had run as fast as they possibly could. And it wasn't fast enough. They couldn't escape.  
  
In his head, Quatre was beating himself up. 'We should have kept running!' he told himself. 'We should have kept going, not stopped. But se was hurting, and what kind of husband doesn't help his wife when she is scared?' all this ran through his head as he stared in defeat at the assassin who stood before them, his gun cocked and loaded, ready to shoot.  
  
"Aren't I the lucky one," he drawled. "I go to relieve myself, and end up cornering the two people we're all after. And now, I get to shoot one of you." Leah started. "Yeah, that's right, darlin'. Only one. That's all the ammo I got left. The other, we take back with us. Now.who do I kill?" He grinned, looking from one to the other. Quatre took a deep breath, and turned to Leah.  
  
"Leah, run. Get away. I'll stall him long enough to give you the window of opportunity you need. You have to get out of here. The Chameleons cannot fall into the wrong hands." He took a deep breath, then continued his whispered tirade. The assassin watched in boredom, not knowing what they were saying, not caring. "I was.I was going to sell you out. I was going to betray you. Back in the real world. I wrote a letter, explaining all of the secrets of the Chameleons, and of you. But I didn't. Don't let my lack of action be in vain. You can't let them get the Chameleons! You have to run." Leah stared at him in disbelief.  
  
"Quatre Raberba Winner.if you think I am going to run away while you stand here, ready to die, you have another think coming! I will not abandon you!" her whispered voice came out in broken sobs.  
  
'Leah, you have to. You have to run. They won't shoot you anyway- they need the secrets. They'll shoot me, and torture you until you tell."  
  
"I'll never tell," she whispered back defiantly.  
  
"Yes, you will. I've seen their methods, what they do. You'll beg for death before the end. You have to run. It's your only chance. Go." He kissed her gently, knowing it would be his last, and gave her a gentle push. She was off like a rocket, streaking for the shelter of the rocks. The assassin only laughed.  
  
"Hah hah! You think you've just saved your little girlfriend's life, Winner? You've just made it all the worse. She could have died a nice, clean, painless death. Now, you've subjected her to torture. You know her secrets just as well as she does- we would've tortured you instead. Instead, you decide to get all noble and save her life. No matter. Some of my associates will catch up with her. She won't have much time to relish freedom- or painlessness." He let out another barking laugh and raised his gun to his shoulder, taking aim. Quatre took a deep breath, facing the end.  
  
Time moved in slow motion, it seemed. He saw the slight movement on the trigger. He saw the brow wrinkle in concentration. He saw the form fall from the rocks above with a scream of defiance, shielding him. He heard the crack of the gun. He heard another scream.  
  
Everything sped up again, and he realized the scream was his own. Two bodies lay at his feet. The assassin had cracked his head open on the rocks as he fell from Leah's impact. Leah lay dying from a shot straight and true to the heart. With uncontrolled sobs, he sank to the ground, wailing and sobbing helplessly.  
  
"Quatre," Leah struggled to whisper. "Quatre."  
  
"Yes, Leah?" Quatre managed to say between shaky sobs. Leah smiled, raising a bloodstained hand to caress his cheek.  
  
"Cast your eyes to the ocean, cast your soul to the sea, when the dark night seems endless- please remember me," she sang, then smiled one last time. Her eyes closed and her face went slack. Quatre knew, as he bent in mourning over her lifeless body, that his angel had now grown wings and flown away. He just knelt there, sobbing, not even noticing when the other assassins, roused by the sound of gunfire, came over and bound his hands behind his back, and shoved him along. The others picked up their own, leaving his love lying in the bloody sand amidst the rocks, with only a cross necklace resting at her head to mark the love that was felt for her. 


	15. Epilogue

Chapter 15- Epilogue  
  
In the room where Quatre and Leah lay, Heero sat with his head bent, his eyes closed in prayer. They had been gone for too long, and he was starting to think, to believe, that they wouldn't be coming back. A loud, gasping breath drew his attention, and he looked up, hope suddenly flooding his soul, as he realized that maybe they had returned, had escaped their dream world- only to have these hopes dashed as the heart monitor Relena had rigged up to Leah let out a long, piercing, endless beep.  
  
Heero just stared at the flat line, urging it to zigzag again, hoping for it to zigzag again, begging it to mark a sign of life. But there was none. He dissolved into quiet sobs, and folded Leah's hands over her chest, closing her eyes. He looked over at Quatre, hoping the same fate hadn't befallen him. He kept his eyes on the blond, not looking away, not chancing that, for a second, Quatre might come back and he'd miss his chance to hold him there, to keep him in the real world.  
  
As he kept his vigil, twin slices appeared on the blond's wrists. Heero jumped out of his chair and crossed over to the bed, ripping a bandage as he went. No way was Quatre going to die this painfully, by slowly bleeding to death. But, like the gun wound Leah had suffered earlier, he couldn't get at them. It was a wound of dreams, of thoughts, and couldn't be touched in the real world. then Quatre's eyes opened and he looked at Heero, a straight, piercing look. Heero looked into those eyes and saw everything the Arabian had gone through, saw the dungeon, saw the chains. He saw the bloodstained switchblade Quatre carried lying on the floor. He saw the blood dripping from the cut wrists. He even saw into Quatre's soul, and saw the pain and the agony he had gone through. he saw the love Quatre had held for Heero's cousin. He saw the refusal Quatre felt, the refusal to betray she whom he loved. He saw the writing, written with Quatre's own blood, on the dungeon wall, saw Quatre writing it at the same precise moment he was lying with eyes open in the real world.  
  
"Cast your eyes to the ocean  
Cast your soul to the sea  
When the dark night seems endless  
Please remember-"  
  
Quatre opened his mouth and in his last breath, finished the song of a whispered, wavering note. "Me." The figure in the dream dungeon slumped to the floor, the blood covered hand trailing down the wall, leaving a smear of blood. His eyes slid shut. His heart monitor flat-lined. And he went to join his angel. 


End file.
